15 Jul What science says about having fun at work
Far too often, fun is discouraged at work because, among other things, it’s seen as useless and frivolous.
But the reality is that happiness and fun at work pay huge dividends; they enhance energy and collaboration, engagement and ultimately performance.
There’s a large and growing body of research supporting the benefits of fun at work and if you’re interested in the topic, this FastCompany article by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is a pretty good place to start …
Recent efforts by employers to provide consumer-like experiences to their current and future employees have normalized the notion that a job, and especially a career, must fulfill our need for enjoyment and cater to our fun-loving instincts. Research shows that over 75% of college-educated workers expect passion to be a key ingredient in their career choices.
However, throughout human history, work was mostly that–work–and enjoying it was the exception rather than the norm. For example, the ancient Greeks and Romans regarded work as something to relegate to slaves. Medieval peasants worked as little as necessary, with a typical working day consisting of half a day. The Protestant work ethic, which explains the success of the British and American empires, saw work as a moral obligation rather than a hedonistic pursuit.
Job satisfaction was low on the assembly lines of the Industrial Revolution, with any notion of fun beginning after workers clocked out. This may have prompted Oscar Wilde’s observation that “work is the curse of the drinking classes.” And in communist regimes, attitudes to work may be best summarized by the Soviet mantra: “So long as the bosses pretend to pay us, we will pretend to work.”
And yet, we would expect the evolution of work to provide more opportunities for people to thrive, create, and enjoy their careers. Back in 1930, Milton Keynes famously predicted that in the future–our current present–technology would be so advanced that we would work only 15 hours a week. Although he was famously wrong, we ought to consider whether the additional 20+ hours most people put in each week has anything to do with fun, enjoyment, or our passionate relation to our jobs and careers.
Fortunately, there is a great amount of psychological research examining the relationship between work-related attitudes and behaviors, which includes how positive affects, happiness, and various aspects of motivation relate to major career outcomes such as job performance, turnover, and career progression. Here’s a brief summary of what we know…
… keep reading the full & original article HERE